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Negroponte has thrown an undisclosed sum of cash into the site and he's not throwing his money away on an overhyped useless dotcom because "consumer-to-consumer websites currently carry the stigma of online retail, which completely misses the enormous opportunity of peer to peer commerce."

Negroponte is, of course, just a big name product endorser, and may well have coughed up a very nominal 'undisclosed sum'.

Webswappers itself is based on same principle as former top British Saturday morning kids' show Swapshop, where a once cool and hip Noel Edmonds let viewers exchange the likes of battered Action Men for Spacehoppers. Except on Webswappers the stakes are a bit higher - items such as tickets to the Sydney Olympics, a Jasper Conran wedding dress or even a nice little three-bedroom abode in East London are either up for grabs or wanted.

And punters don't even have to offer a swap - they can just ask for or offer something and wait to see what comes in.

"We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with one of the industry's most respected technology visionaries to build on Webswappers position," gushed Jonathan Attwood, Webswappers CEO.

"Professor Negroponte's understanding of the value of technology as it is applied to everyday life and how it will develop will be invaluable in developing our business."

Negroponte is renowned for his soundbite sci-fi announcements. The best known are that there will soon be more Barbie dolls than Americans on the Internet, and that we will all be swallowing pill-sized computers which can diagnose illnesses.

More of the Professor's understanding of the value of technology can be found here.